artist's statement by katherine Salgo

Internet as String

​As part of Team Internet, I did a quantitative analysis of the iconography used throughout the visual data set, looking for common imagery and themes. By far the most frequently used were: a) arrows, lines, or dotted lines as connectors between visuals, b) the world, represented in planet form, and c) computers, often with keyboards, mice, or other peripherals attached, d) connected web diagrams or flow charts, and e) stick people or other representations of people. Other less frequently used but still noticeably common images were blank squares, rectangles, or circles used to represent an object or idea, often connected within a network of lines.

I sought to create a physical sculpture that could be seen as a three-dimensional representation of several of the concepts used frequently in our data set. Using wire, cord, and embroidery floss in blue hues, I formed a frame to represent a globe. I then created a network of interconnected round beads suspended by embroidery floss within the globe’s frame. The use of simple lines or arrows connecting ideas/implying cyclical movement was very common in the visual data set. As such, I wanted to represent a similar web or flow-chart with a very kinetic, flowing structure that implies the movement between bodies of information or individuals within this network. I applied the socio-cognitive metatheory as a basis (Bates 2005), so rather than having these ideas or information sources suspended outside of the globe, I wanted to show how they connect within it. This relates to fields of social research in information studies, such as domain analysis and social analytics. Through this visual representation, my piece demonstrates that all of this web-based information doesn't just operate on some nebulous invisible plane or within a vacuum; it shapes, and is shaped by, our societies and cultures.

As an added bonus, there is a single bead representing a cat, which was unsurprisingly common in our data set’s visual iconography.